


Skinny Guys Fight Til They're Burger

by stranger_thanfiction



Series: Stranger Things 30 Day Challenge [13]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Season 2, it's basically The Fight, just with more gay subtext, minor s3 spoilers because this was going to be longer but night shift is the pits, not harringrove, something Billy centric is coming but this is just the background of the fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:08:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20046544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stranger_thanfiction/pseuds/stranger_thanfiction
Summary: Steve would really like to stop getting the shit kicked out him, if that’s too hard to ask.





	Skinny Guys Fight Til They're Burger

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was favorite fight, and man, do I love the Steve-Billy fight from Season 2. (Has this 30 Day Challenge basically become an ode to Steve? Sure, but things are coming)  
There's so much subtext there, and I'm not talking about the gay kind. Billy is jealous of Steve, had been all season, and it culminates in this fight. (I had the urge to write this as a love story between Steve and Billy I won't lie, but I try to write loving, healthy, communicative relationships, which Harringrove in canon is not. I have plans for an AU though.)  
Once again, night shift is the pits, but I hope this makes a little bit of sense.  
As always kudos and comments work better than coffee for writing fuel, and if you wanna yell at me on my tumblr @modernfeminismtalking Enjoy! :)

Steve would really like to stop getting the shit kicked out him, if that’s too hard to ask. 

He knows he deserved it when Jonathan beat his ass. It was a shove in the right direction. 

Nothing is more humbling than the kid that you’ve been making fun of for months pummeling the everliving fuck out of you. 

Steve, although enlightened, is still not the brightest. Once the big threat is over, and he’s officially with Nancy Wheeler, he doesn’t think he’s going to need to work out or bulk up for anything other than basketball.

He still sleeps with the bat close; he’d be dumb not to, but he assumes that the rest of his life, or at the very least high school, is going to be simpler.

Hawkins decides to fuck up his senior year when it brings in Billy Hargrove.

At this point, Steve’s still a major dick dealing with own problems, so he doesn’t notice Billy’s goading as what it was. 

A cry for help, for attention, for someone to notice him long enough to notice what was wrong.

_ (It's later, after the funeral, when Steve and Robin are talking through everything, that Steve admits his guilt in not realizing. Not realizing that there was something wrong at home, not recognizing the fake bravado in Billy as the one he used to put on, and thinking maybe he could've helped him. _

_ Robin reminds him that he was barely helping himself when he and Billy met. Billy kicked the shit out him, and then Steve was falling apart over the summer. They were in the Russian bunker when Billy became possessed, so there was really nothing they could've done. _

_ Steve doesn't believe her, but he's concussed and sad, so they call it a draw.) _

Even so, all of his energy at this point is centered on Nancy Wheeler.

His friends say he's whipped, but Steve's just in love.

He would do anything for her; he gives up parties and goes to weekly lunch with her best friend's parents.

He even buys Jonathan Byers a new camera after he decides to peep on his girlfriend. 

Steve’s still with Nancy, and he’s trying to be a better person for her. It takes maybe a week after his arrival before Billy’s become “King Billy,” complete with Tommy and Carol scrambling to follow him like moths to a flame. 

He genuinely doesn't care about being king anymore--the Upside Down kind of puts things in perspective, but his heart pangs at the loss of Tommy and Carol. 

Then they start being assholes to him and Nancy, and he can't help but think good riddance.

When things get bad with Nancy, Steve desperately wants to fall back into his self destructive bullshit.

He sees Nancy walk out of the party with Jonathan out of the corner of his eye. A year ago, he’d be burning with rage and a desire to kick Byers’ ass, but now his chest feels like a black hole, and a part of him wants to collapse. 

What he couldn’t give to just get fucked up, so that’s what he does.

Or he tries to. 

Steve walks to keg, ignoring the burning in eyes as he takes the hose and sucks in more cheap beer than he probably should. 

It doesn’t take long for Billy to find him. 

Steve’s well on his way to being wasted, throwing back swigs from a random bottle he found on a table, when Hargrove walks over. 

The blond boy is smiling at him with all his teeth, and his eyes look like a starving lion had just found a wounded antelope.

“Aw, Harrington,” he grins, “Wheeler already leave you for Byers? She realize that your pretty face don’t have anything behind it?”

Steve makes a face but ignores him, choosing instead to take another drink. 

Billy’s smile drops into a dangerous scowl. He hauls Steve up and pins him to the wall.

“I was talkin’ to you, pretty boy,” he hisses, his face close enough that Steve can smell the cigarettes and just a hint of cheap liquor. 

Hmm, maybe Billy’s not king after all. 

“Oh, you think you’re still in charge?” his eyebrow quirks, and Steve notices he has a scar just across the right one.

“Nope,” Steve responds, popping the ‘p’, “but I’d rather be alone and happy than king of all this  _ bullshit _ . You can have it.”

“Heavy is the head and all that stuff.”

He’s just drunk enough that he boops Billy on the nose before squirming out the other’s grip and leaving. 

Steve’s lost a lot tonight, but the one thing he won’t miss is that fucking crown.

Steve wakes up the next morning with no recollection of the night after seeing Nancy leave, and his heart pangs along with his head as he tries to plan his next move.

After chugging half a pot of coffee and nearly overdosing on Advil, he heads to the supermarket and leaves with a bouquet of roses.

She likes those, right?

Of course, the universe has other plans for him, and he ends up helping Henderson, one of Nancy’s brother’s friends, and damn it, he likes this little shit. 

Even if he decided to raise a demogorgon and currently has him spreading raw meat across the railroad tracks. 

They catch up with the Sinclair kid and a fiery little shit who’s apparently Hargrove’s sister, and now he’s got two more kids to take care of. 

Steve’s thankful that he kept the bat but holy fuck he should’ve started working out. 

Their trap works, even though they end up almost dying, and they decide to follow the dogs to Hawkins Lab.

They get there to find Jonathan and Nancy waiting outside the gates, looking for their siblings, and Steve’s head spins when he sees their joined hands. 

Of fucking course. 

He can’t think about it longer because they all need to get in there and get everyone out, so he’s just going to pack that away for later. 

Dustin gets the doors open and they all somehow escape from interdimensional monsters in a government facility to the Byers house. 

Turns out, Jonathan’s brother is possessed by this big bad thing, and he’s been narcing on them.

Adult life is already so goddamn weird, so why not?

The dogs find them, and Steve readies the bat and steps in front of the kids. Nancy cocks the gun from somewhere behind him, and he can’t help but feel proud of her.

Prissy, his ass. 

This time the rag tag group avoids a fight this time, thanks to some girl with telekinetic powers showing up and kicking ass, but the worst is yet to come. 

The group splits up, the Chief taking the girl back to the lab to end things and the Byers (plus Nancy) taking Will to go exorcise him or some shit. 

As they all prepare for battle, because fuck it’s 1984 and they’re going to battle like it’s the fucking middle ages or whatever, Steve gets a chance to talk to Nancy.

He’s not good with words; it’s why his college essays were shit, and it’s why he can’t describe in this moment how much Nancy leaving hurt him.

Instead, what comes out is, “I may have been a shit boyfriend, but I’m a damn good babysitter.”

Steve doesn’t want to talk about it, because they’ve got bigger fish to fry right now, but he can’t help but say that before stalking off. 

He’s officially the babysitter for these little shits. It’s Dustin, Sinclair, little Hargrove, and Nancy’s brother who’s currently squawking about his girlfriend going to the lab. 

Steve doesn’t even know this girl, and silently agrees that maybe she shouldn’t be risking her life, but he can’t let them know that. 

“We wait for the coach to give us the play,” he insists, towel over his shoulder and hands on his hips. 

“We’re not even in the game,” Sinclair counters.

“We’re on the bench!” Mike screams, and shit, Steve scrambles.

“Well, no, just. No, yeah, we’re on the bench,” he agrees, and all the kids sink.

Apparently, he’s babysitting the nerd club of Hawkins Middle, because they all quickly come up with a plan that’s going to get them killed. 

Oh, hell no.

“I promised I was going to keep you little shits safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here, on the bench, and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everyone understand?”

Mike tries to fight back, but Steve’s not having that. 

“I said, does everyone understand?”

Silence from the arguing children.

“I need a yes.”

They stay silent, and he’s about to scream until he hears a car engine revv.

There’s only one person in Hawkins who drives like such a jackass.

Mayfield darts to the window, and sees the Camaro racing down the drive.

“It’s my brother,” her eyes bug out of her head, “he can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill us.”

Fuck him gently with a rusty chainsaw.

“Hey,” he sighs, “Get down, shut up and let me handle this.”

Steve steps outside the door to the Byers house, and belatedly thinks that maybe he should’ve brought the bat. 

He’s nearly blinded with the light coming from the Camaro, but Steve holds his ground and glares at the man climbing out of the vehicle. 

“Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?” Steve can see Billy’s smile from over the light.

He huffs and rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, it’s me, don’t cream your pants.”

Hargrove’s smile drops and he slowly walks forward, like a predator. 

“What are you doing here amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing, amigo.”

Billy takes his jacket off and exhales, smoke streaming out of his mouth.

“I’m looking for my step sister. Little birdie told me she was here.”

“Haven’t met her, sorry man.”

Billy’s eyebrow quirks, “Small? Redhead, bit of a bitch?”

Steve is praying that those shits just stay down like he asked them to.

“Doesn’t ring a bell, sorry man,” he starts, and Billy’s eyes flick to the window.

His nostrils flare.

“You know Steve, this whole thing is giving me the heebie jeebies,” Billy starts, and Steve resists the urge to snort.

“Why?”

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and I find her with you at a stranger’s house, then you lie to me about it.”

“Man were you dropped on your head too much as a child, or what? What don’t you understand about what I just said.”

Billy comes closer, fire in his eyes.

“Then who the hell is that?”

Jesus fuck, he’s getting too old for this shit.

“Okay, listen-” and Steve’s pushed down like he’s a gumbo figurine.

“I told you, “Billy grits kicking him in the stomach, “plant your fucking feet.”

Billy storms right past him up to the fucking door, and nope this is not happening. 

He can’t be a shit boyfriend and a shit babysitter.

Steve pulls himself up and groans.

He really should’ve worked out more.

He can hear Billy threatening the kids, and like a mother, his senses flare up.

He runs into the house to find Billy getting kneed by Sinclair, and Steve takes the moment of weakness to deck Hargrove in the face.

Billy gives a victory screech, and Steve wonders what the hell he got himself into.

“Looks like you’ve got some fire in ya after all, Harrington! I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everyone’s told me so much about!” Billy’s smiling, something manic behind it, and Steve’s not going to do this. 

“If you want your crown back, you’ve gotta work harder, pretty boy.”

Steve’s not biting.

“Get out.”

There’s a moment of silence, and Billy’s smiling, and then he swings. 

Maybe he learned something, because Steve ducks and retaliates right back. 

He has the upper hand, with the kids egging him on in the background, until Billy smashes a fucking plate over his head.

Son of a bitch.

Steve’s suddenly on the ground, with Hargrove punching the absolute shit out of him, tears streaming down his cheeks, and two thoughts occur to him.

One, he’s going to start lifting once all this over, if he’s not dead.

And two, the kids need to get out right fucking now. 

Hargrove suddenly stops, and Steve can hear talking. He’s fighting to stay awake, but his body has other ideas, and he falls unconscious.

Steve wakes up to muffled arguments and screaming, and finds Max driving the fucking Camaro, and decides that he’s a shit babysitter. 

_Yeah_, he thinks, his legs screaming as he leads four thirteen year olds into a hole to set an interdimensional monster on fire,_ he should’ve worked out more. _


End file.
